00:00:45I'm sitting here today with Brian Sally and I just have had so much fun with you this week at Chad Kuhl, Avenue Northwest leadership lab appear in Rathdrum, Idaho, or actually, sitting here, Lakeside twinlow. What do you? What do you think about that? I love the sounds of the, the, the waves lapping on the shore. And looking at these incredible trees that come the tree line comes right down to the lake and fresh air and it's awesome. Place to be talking to you talking to everybody. And, you know, it's just, I've learned so much from you about about leadership. And and I just think you have a really compelling story for how how you would end up, you know, you start off as you know, somebody born in San Francisco and here you are and you have such a such a journey to get here, fifty years old. And here it's been quite a ride. I mean, is it safe to say? You never thought you'd be?

00:02:10I guess it while the age of 21 at the age of 21. I actually committed the crime of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 17 years to life. In California State, Prison and went into San Quentin, a young man full of fear and Desperation and despair and hopelessness. And knowing I was going to die in prison and the reality of that was pretty much evidence based of what I saw of the prison system from the county jail experience in lifers, didn't come out. So my life was going to be the convict Life Behind the Walls of San Quentin. The first say nine and a half years that we're pretty heavy, adjusting to that reality. And what that looks like for me in a very structured environment, then you had mentioned that in your intro.

00:03:21Fresh air at sometimes at the cell block. Certainly weren't so very structured.

00:03:40You're an amazing man. I'm just going to say that like I have been able to just see you and be with you like all week, and I can't imagine.

00:04:49That I was going to go a different direction which I think is a lot like the business world back. Where do I want to be? Is the owner of the nonprofit today? And what do I want to be doing? And what's the models that I wanted a replicator, the direction, you know, that I want to go and yeah, it was, it was quite a journey. I thank you for that. I think there's a lot of parallels in every way, except for the structure cuz I just want to taste like, I mean, and we've talked about it a little bit every day. I keep thinking I need to build in more structure. More structure, you know, because I'm not too far removed from working in an office environment where there's a lot of structure, you know, and I'm working on building. I don't stress that he do my own structure. I don't want to replicate where I came from, but I want to create an environment where I can be my most creative, best self for my clients and then for my own personal goals and sometimes I'm just like I feel like I'm flailing around a little bit because

00:06:21One of the things that I've been reflecting on, you know, throughout throughout the week is when I talked to business owners and they say they don't have access to the resources, you know, where they can't, they can't make changes, you know, we all have these like mental barriers, you know, we put ourselves in this cell, you know, and I seen a lot of parallels like between and we talked about it throughout the week, you know, how we put ourselves in these cages, in these cells of thinking, you know, we really limit ourselves and when I talk to people and they say, they don't have access to resources and then I talk to you and I'm like access to all these books and these people when you're in prison, like just amazing to me, right? And I think too that that, you know, you're I think you're right on point with there's all kinds of Prisons is what I was hearing. There's a to find ourselves in a Cell in the business World in Ark.

00:08:21I started opening prison. Doors gates are opening for me because of I think the Creative Energy that I was tapping into and the resources, they came to me, I wasn't able to get to them and I I initiated every contact, whether it was writing to someone about bringing a meditation program into the prison, and then getting a response and then getting bucks and then getting, you know, a spot that we could do a program. I mean, it just kind of thought that next thing, you know, a Trappist monk is coming in to teach centering prayer to know from Kentucky and he comes to California to spend time with us and makes you know the warden of that prison sitting in that room, closing his eyes for 20 minutes as we did, send me. That's an incredible thing to happen from reaching outside the box and taking the stuff and making the contact or sitting there. And saying, oh, I don't have any resources. This is all I've got. This is where I'm at. This is going to have to look Beyond.

00:10:21Reach out to somebody. I think it's just such a powerful lesson to think, like, man. You got to look outside the box. You can't, you have to always be searching for that new thing searching for like that knowledge and not being limited by what you see right in front of you. I think that that that's like a really powerful message for anybody. But especially a business owner or, like, a solopreneur or like one person without employees, you know, who doesn't have an unlimited budget. He know to get out there and do it. So,

00:11:56Tell me I was going to die in prison, you know, it was like everything around me told me. I was limited and that I was going to die though. I was going to buy the life or death in prison life lifer, not life-or-death, but life or death as a live prisoner 17 years to live that I was going to die that that death inside of the state prison. And

00:13:06Thank you for reminding me about that. I mean I I think the

00:14:03Cuz you don't know and it's pretty good today. And today is great. And I think that the meditative process that we get better everywhere. Like my life got improve everywhere through becoming a meditator. I think there's creative juices that start flowing. And I think KT get unraveled where, you know, the universe is doing the therapy and I'm just sitting and opening myself up to that process and like, not knowing what the agenda is going to be. And I can bite into in meditation that what a good meditation is. What is a good meditation look like who I experienced Bliss? Or I, I check out, or my mind went blank, which is crazy. By the way Minds, don't go blank to the best. We can do is focus them in the direction. We want to go so that stops a lot of people from being meditators. Cuz it's yeah you are and you're also when you're thinking about business, you're working into that very concentrated Focus, you know, you're focusing in a direction that you're moving and you're practicing a form of non speak.

00:16:03You like my psyche gives me what I'm capable of handling and that's why I like journaling like riding. You know, I'm a fan of the writing process because it cracks open something inside of me. That doesn't come forth unless I honor it by giving it a gateway to come through another words. Like when I Journal, I don't worry about punctuation. I don't capitalize it. The first thing, you know, letter of the New Stanton sometimes, I don't put periods or commas are semicolons where they belong and just kind of let it slow and it takes on a life of its own and it opens up and gives me more. My psyche gives me more when it starts the momentum, but I have to open the gate. I have to start tapping into it and then next thing, you know, there's an external manifestation of that like I'm seeing things different in my in my world, you know how to start streaming.

00:16:55I mean, I've started seeing some of that in my own meditation. I honestly think that like, I can't remember the exact statistics, but they say that we only access what like, 10% of our brain or something, you know, and I've kind of wondered if meditation unlock some of that, you know, gives us access to more not because your mind is blank because you're introducing a new process and you start to see things differently things that have been in front of you all the time, but you just haven't been able to see it. And I think that the process is an expensive process and it's expanding it. Expands us. We come into alignment with more possibility and we kind of open the heart. We open, you know, the heart, to a way that is naturally comes out in our external world. Do they have to line up at some point and it starts, you know, what? That inside, Journey, that opens it up to to change on the outside seeing things differently.

00:18:32That's amazing. So now that you're not in prison, which thank you for that. I'm glad you're not in prison. I'm glad that you're out here, you know, sharing and I and I think that your story is very unique because I think it's a very small percentage of people that go through this, this journey and and get to leave, is that fair? I mean, that's very small percentage, that survival life. Sentence are released from a life sentence and I didn't like when an appeal in court, I didn't like get let off for what I did. I didn't get out early for good behavior. What I did in California was I not only served the time that they wanted to see me, sir, which turned out to be more than 22 years. So I went in as a 21 year old man and came out, 43 years old, 22, bus years later. And I'm and I made the changes see that they have an accountability thing and they have public safety's, their first concern and it's the right concerning to bet on it.

00:20:32Change your fortune, you know when you've helped him. I did it. Yeah, and that's that's who my community wants me to be and that's guess who showed up that guy showed up. That's who I am that. Do you are? Yeah, absolutely. So

00:21:48Like what's happening to our nonprofit is designed to provide services to a wide spectrum of people. I mean, we're here in chat collab and it's not quite that, you know, that the drug programs are the juvenile facilities or the adult. Corrections people up here. Pretty good job, but I mean, it's will check closer around for 70 years. And I mean, I think it's just mostly families from Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah, that just come together to put together in a family camp for adults and kids. And I would say, you know, most people have had different experiences, but, you know, by the, they believe more of the American dream. Then maybe some other people, they have their own problems, but it's not the same as going to a

00:23:48Basically is was getting, you stuck was holding you back. What's making you angry? What is an action steps or some tangible action steps that you can take to make change and and is Ross has pointed out in his saving the future. It's like the my approaches from the symptomatic and we're looking at what's not working. You know, where are we stuck or what? What's the self-inflicted limitation is keeping me from being where I want to be? What's keeping me on my business from being where I want to be and then who's accountable to it. It's me. I'm the only one. That's not your fault. Don't start. When I got really angry. By the way. I just want to say that I have my laundry list of complaints, you know, we go through it. Like, what's making? You really angry and stuff. And then the next day, it's like a people whose accountable, and I was like,

00:25:38Side of that limitation to get on the other side of it and I love that. I hate. Its it is, it's like it. I love the way you say it, it is so challenging and simple at the same time and I think it just really let you know that you don't need a lot of resources. You don't need to have the biggest of Guru, or coaching plan, or whatever. You think that you need like, you need to focus on what's inside of you and what's what's keeping you from doing that thing, whatever that is. If it's, it doesn't have to do with your business. Anything that's keeping you from being the best you

00:26:58My morning routine is very different than it was 10 years ago because her and I've got baby. My routine is really structured around them in the South Kerr has to take place. I have to put myself first in some areas and meditation is one of the things that since I've come home as been in the state of flux in prison, you know, it was really easy. It's what started as a discipline, you know, them became a ritual that I would do this, you know, what this time of day and and meditation, you know, it's good to do at the same time of morning. So you kind of develop a kind of an internal clock on when you're going to do this process and then same time in the afternoon and and then it turned into devotion where it was started as discipline to Ritual to Devotion, to where I felt like I couldn't breathe, right, unless I started meditated. I was really taking care of myself and

00:28:57That I tend to have a more grounded day. Attend that be a little more ground to try a little harder in the afternoon cuz there's so many things left to do when I come home from work, that it's a, it's a tougher time rather than first thing in the morning the challenge and first thing in the morning, so I'm getting trying to get out the door. So I got to get up a little earlier. I mean literally, you know, it's at 4:30 a.m. Wake up for me to there's a lot to do in the morning before I get out of the house. So I have to have that time and I have a better day and depending on what I'm working on, depends on the intensity of that. Because as I'm working on, have your stuff, or more, complicated, or my life is getting more complicated. My days are, including, you know, being spread out in different directions. I need that more. It's not the place to throttle back on that. It's a place to pick that up because

00:30:16That makes so much sense in and you're saying exactly what my business coaches say, you know, at Thrive Academy. It's like the more self-care that you practice, the more clients who get the better, you'll feel because, and you'll be a better. You so then you on yourself and then you attract more people to your business, you know, and, but I think if you just want to be a better person that even about business, you know, it's about showing up more for your family, you know, I think meditation helps with that and just being the best. You let that visualization or meditation the journaling, you know, I'm a big ride or two and I haven't devoted as much time myself to writing and you're really reminding me that, that's something I need to do. You know, I need to do these things. You need to fill your life with joy.

00:31:17And I think it's something that we can all learn. So, okay, I'll leave you with this. So if

00:31:31Either about leadership or meditation or just stuff that you've liked to read cuz you're, like, an Avid Reader. You've got, you do a lot of reading. One of my favorite books is the prophet.

00:32:43Jason teacher. And he his book that I gave you is called close your eyes. Open your mind, a practical guide to spiritual meditation. I don't need this. Like, esoteric fuzzy fuzzy thing. I need to, I need to know, just tell me what to do and I'll do it. And that's what we've been talking about. All week is practical application of theoretical Concepts on how to make change. We've been talkin about, tell me what to do. How do I do it line and out? And that's what are three step process is about with identifying accountability. And then an action plan. It's practical application and apply it and see what happens. If I tell me how to do it in my daily life. Don't tell me some Siri on what it should be like, cuz I always come up short on those things. I always blow it, you know. Yeah. I know Siri, Siri is great, is your writing research papers and going to go to grad school. I did a lot of theory and a lot of a lot of papers and learned a lot.

00:34:43Thank you for listening to the third paddle podcast www.com, questions or topic ideas to info at 3rd paddle.com. And don't forget to tune in each week, to get even more technology and business tips to help you navigate. The third pedal podcast is sponsored by Foster growth online at ww.w dot. Foster growth. Tech and Twyla K International online. That's www.y8.com.

00:35:47really no place to go.

00:36:04I think that's something that we can all learn, especially in our business. When we think, man, I got

00:36:26I am deeply grateful to Brian for spending the time with me.